Community Local History Resources

Santa Barbara Historical Society – Collections include photographs, files, maps, ephemera from the Chumash, Mexican, Spanish, and American periods.

Santa Barbara Genealogical Society – Collection includes books, periodicals, vital records, and local school yearbooks.

Trust for Historic Preservation – Collections include books & scholarly articles, historic maps, oral histories, photographs, and the Pearl Chase Papers, among other manuscript collections.

Santa Barbara Mission Archive – Home to a unique collection of sources related to the missions of California, California history, Franciscan history, and the history of native peoples in the Southwest until approximately 1850.

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Library – Devoted to study in natural history, zoology, the environment, and California Indigenous Peoples.

California Digital Newspaper Collection – A freely accessible repository (hosted at UCR) of digitized California newspapers, including the Santa Barbara Morning Press (1872-1922) and the Santa Barbara Weekly Press (1900-1913).

California Ethnic & Multicultural Archives (CEMA) at UCSB – These unique collections document the lives and activities of African Americans, Asian/Pacific Americans, Chicanos/Latinos, and Native Americans in California. The collections represent the cultural, artistic, ethnic, gender, and racial diversity that characterizes the state's population.

UCSB Special Research Collection – The Santa Barbara History Collection (SBHC) is largely concerned with the political, cultural and environmental history of the greater Santa Barbara area. It contains dozens of manuscript collections pertaining to the development of numerous organizations, movements, and historical figures that made Santa Barbara their home.

UCSB Aerial Photography Collection – The collection dates back to the 1920s, with most of our photography covering areas in California and Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Blaksley Library – The Garden's library, established in 1927, includes over 15,000 botanical and horticultural works on California flora and landscape history.

Carpinteria Valley Museum of History - Museum and research library operated by the Carpinteria Valley Historical Society.

Montecito Association History Committee - Collected historical materials and archives related to the history of Montecito.